making news in america this morning -- bitter chill gripping much of the nation. and for many, a heavy snowfall, worthy of february. who's in the line of fire? and when it will let up. new details on the state of mind of the engineer in that deadly train derailment. experts weigh in on what can be done to avoid accidents like this. spectacular results when a truck filled with eight tons of fireworks goes up in flames. and the young man whose dance moves stole the spotlight at a basketball game does it again. this time, on national tv. that little dancing guy has gotten better since the last time we saw him. >> i don't know if that's possible.

but you might just be right. he looks great. >> hang in there, folks. you'll see him in a little bit. we start off this wednesday morning with the frigid forecast. for nearly 150 million americans, bone-chilling, arctic air and treacherous ice, and blinding snow. it's getting worse by the day. >> the western half of the country is getting slammed this morning. and it's not letting up just yet. the south and the east are next in line. we begin with abc's tahman bradley. >> reporter: an arctic blast sent temperatures plunging across the west. and the big chill is spreading south and east. >> it's january-like cold. only, it's early december. >> reporter: a winter storm crushed colorado and nevada, dumping heavy snow. crews brace for the morning commute. in california, howling winds. these citrus farmers in fresno, prepping cropping, as temperatures dip near freezing. >> worry about anything getting close to 32 or below. >> we got our crews ready. our water. our wind machines. >> reporter: this morning, about two dozen states have winter watches or advisories, as the coldest air of the season moves in.

in northern minnesota, it's like a winter wonderland. snowfall totals could reach 15 inches in some areas. >> it's terrible. it's terrible. >> reporter: icy roads sent vehicles sliding. while the adults shovel -- kids play. >> yeah. it's wicked, actually. i've never seen it like this before. >> reporter: this cold snap is expected to linger. the forecasted high in minneapolis on friday, just 5 degrees. even dallas could slip into the 30s. tahman bradley, abc news, washington. temperatures in some areas to record lows. >> for the very latest on what we can expect today, we turn to accuweather meteorologist, jim dickey. >> good morning, john and diana. a brutally cold air mass continues to filter into the plains and midwest today. these are the temperatures you can expect as you head out the door this morning. zero in bismarck. 6 in pierre. still in the 20s in minneapolis. as the colder air is spreading in, going to see some snowfall.

an area of low pressure streaking towards lake superior. snowfall across minnesota into northern wisconsin. in some cases, on the heavier side. looking for three to six inches of snowfall in minneapolis. in the 6 to 12-inch range in duluth. john and diana, back to you. >> jim, thank you. stay with abc news for the latest on this bitter cold and snow on "gma." sam champion will have everything you need to know, as he marks his last day with us here at abc. now, to new developments in the train derailment investigation. the government is slamming the rail line, as we learn that the driver is apologizing, even bringing people to tears as he explains his remorse. engineer william rockefeller told investigators that he was in a semiconscious state when he was at the controls. his attorney calls it a momentary daze, like the road fatigue drivers sometimes experience. a union representative describes his state of mind this way. >> he caught himself. but he caught himself too late. he powered down. he put the train in emergency. but that was six seconds from derailment.

>> the train was not equipped with the safety system called positive train control. that would have allowed the train to slow down if it was going too fast. president obama is said to make some comments about his health care law at a white house youth event today. it's the second-straight day he will be talking about obama care. as abc's karen travers tells us, that's by design. good morning, karen. >> reporter: good morning, john. good morning, diana. president obama highlighted the progress at healthcare.gov. but once again, he reminded americans that the health care law is not just a website. and he had a strong message for republicans. he said the health care law is here to stay. >> my main message today is we're not going back. after just the first month, despite all of the problems in the rollout, about 500,000 people across the country are poised to gain health care coverage threw marketplaces and medicaid beginning on january 1st. >> reporter: but the white house says the problems are almost fixed. over the next three weeks they'll make a big push to get people enrolled so they have health insurance by january 1st. john and diana? >> karen, thank you.

now, to a breaking story from mexico. a potential nightmare for u.s. homeland security. a truck carrying radioactive material has been stolen. that material is being called extremely dangerous. the truck was stolen from a gas station in the state of hidalgo, mexico, just north of mexico city. the radiation was probably shielded at the time of the theft. we'll have the very latest on this on "gma." vice president biden has arrived in beijing for high-stakes meetings on china's new claim about its air defense zone. the visit had originally been built on the goodwill between the two countries. it added significance after the u.s. and japan refused to recognize china's claim on that airspace that's above the tiny island in the east china sea. nearly a year after the sandy hook elementary school massacre, the public will hear the dramatic 911 calls from that tragic day. the tapes of the emergency calls will be released this afternoon. connecticut officials had tried to block them to protect families of the 20 children and 6 educators who were killed on

that day. but they decided not to appeal after a court ruled to make those recordings public. and now, to detroit, where the judge who approved the city's entrance into bankruptcy is calling that move an opportunity for a fresh start. the motor city now must address its $18 billion debt. the judge's decision was opposed by the city's unions, pension funds and retirees who claim that the debt will be settled through cuts to their benefits. mindful of that, the judge says that he will not sign off on just any proposed cuts. the nation's capitol is a little brighter for the rest of the year after getting an annual touch of holiday glitz. >> house speaker john boehner flipping the switch last night on the capitol christmas tree. it's an 88-foot-tall spruce, adorned with 5,000 ornaments made by kids across the country. >> and it looks beautiful. >> a beautiful tree. i will say that, yes. coming up, which state curses the most? the results are in. >> interesting. plus, a california ceo and his family vanished. the frantic search for their plane after it seemed to disappear from the skies. and what billy joel is planning to do every month to

delight his fans.

stock market momentum seems to be fading as all major averages have taken a beating this week. the dow opens lower this morning for a third day in a row. the s&p 500 and nasdaq also down. all this despite cyber monday being the best online sales day in history. shares of all the major automakers are down, despite reporting a surge in sales. last month, total sales up 9% from a year ago, largely in part

to that buying over thanksgiving weekend. chrysler had a 16% increase. gm was up 14%. ford sales rose 7%. compact suvs proved to be the most popular models. "newsweek," the struggling weekly magazine that stopped print publication last year, plans to turn the presses back on. the magazine expects to begin a 64-page weekly edition early next year. it will cost more than the old version, according to the editor in chief, who says that it will depend heavily on subscribers to pay those bills. and the piano man is taking up residence in the world's most famous arena. billy joel announced plans to play one concert per month at new york's madison square garden. the shows begin next month. there's no date on when this concert series will end. the first four shows are already sold out. and the fifth one is set for may 9th, which happens to be billy joel's birthday. >> always wanted to see him. might be time. >> i did see him. >> was he great? >> he's amazing. >> he looks amazing. i'm going to wait for a year to go by. and the shows won't be as sold out. >> and it's going to be quite a show. it's great.

when we come back, it could be the citation of the future. why a woman who was driving wearing google glass says she's not guilty. plus, riches lost and found. the woman who is about to pocket 50 million bucks, even though she lost her lottery ticket. he actually told me that a lot of the foods that i thought were really healthy for me can do damage to the enamel on my teeth. my dentist recommended that i use pronamel. pronamel will help protect the enamel from future erosion.

an unexpected and unplanned fireworks show in china. a truck loaded with eight tons of fireworks crashed and burst into flames. the fire burned for more than five hours with explosives loudly going off the entire time. firefighters sprayed water from a safe distance. and families living nearby had to be evacuated. fortunately, no one was hurt in that incident. now, for a look at the morning road conditions. snow-covered roads from the rockies to the great lakes. drivers could face blizzard conditions across minnesota. slick at times from virginia to carolina. >> if you're flying, delays are

possible in mipgs, detroit, denver, dallas and memphis. autopsy results are being released for paul walker and his friend, three days after they died in a fiery car crash. >> fans continue to gather at the crash site near l.a. as we look at the moment of impact. surveillance video showing a light pole and a tree going down. it shows that the fire didn't start right away. it took a full minute before the smoke begins to rise. it leaves some to question whether the two men could have escaped. two veteran skydivers have been killed after a jump in southern arizona. the two victims crashed into each other a few hundred feet above the landing zone. both hit the ground at high speed. hundreds came running out of a training facility. every year, according to a nearby inn owner. >> they do a lot of jumps here. they're going to have an accident or two and some people are going to die. it just happens. >> one victim died at the scene. the other was pronounced dead at

a local hospital. a search resumes at day break for a silicon valley executive and his family who haven't been heard from since sunday. dale smith and four family members were flying from oregon to butte, montana, sunday, when he reported engine trouble in their small plane. a faint signal was picked up yesterday. temperatures in that area overnight are expected to dip below zero. first of its kind case going on in california. a woman fighting a traffic ticket that alleges she was driving while using google's computer in an eye glass. she was ticketed for speeding. but the officer tacked on the citation with a monitor visible to the driver. >> it's like now. it's on. the device is physically on. but it's not active and the screen is off. if i do either this or this, then you can see the screen

light up a little bit. >> she claims the glasses weren't on when she was driving. google glass won't be available until next year. a communication satellite roared into space last night on a private rocket. the space-x rocketed from florida carrying the satellite. it will increase band witt in asia and other operations. soon after the launch, space-x ceo elon musk tweeted a picture that the rocket took as it soared away from earth. the state of ohio launching something. but it's not rockets. apparently they are good at launching f-bombs. a new study placed from consumers to businesses. you know the ones that you're warned being recorded. ohio consumers cursed the most. followed by maryland, new jersey, louisiana and illinois. >> i'm not surprised at new jersey. >> me, too. we're from this area. a guy from new jersey going -- but you think ohio people would

be very nice. >> yes. >> and friendly. who knows? >> slow and down to earth. and not at all. if you check-in with your megamillions ticket, no winner in last night's drawing. that means the jackpot will roll over to 291 million bucks for the next drawing which is friday night. you in it, diana? >> not yet. but i leave here. and i'm going to be in it. >> deal. a woman in canada is $50 million richer this morning even though her winning ticket is nowhere to be found. she didn't know she was a winner until lottery officials tracked her down. they used surveillance video from the convenience store where that ticket was bought. and she's going to get the money even without the ticket. >> honestly, i really don't know. i have looked into my house very thorou thoroughly. and it's not there. >> jones was able to provide a credit card bill that proved she made the purchase. she gets that check next month. >> oh, my gosh. >> canada is so nice. here's your money. >> right. >> america's like, sorry. you lost.

>> that's the kind of knock i want at my door. some sports, now. major free agent baseball deal. jacob ellsbury moving from the red sox to the yankees on a seven-year contract worth about 153 million bucks. >> i'll take that door knock, as well. ellsbury led the majors in stolen bases last year, while helping boston to the world series title. all he has to do is pass a physical today in new york. and here you go. $153 million. >> that's some move. as for last night's action on the hardwood, here's our friends at espn. >> good morning, america. other day i'm walking across the street. and a guy next to me said, are you stan verrett. no. you're close. he's stan verrett. i'm neil everett. >> it's a compliment, to you. >> thank you. >> raptors and warriors. andre iguodala out with a strained hamstring. the warriors were down 27 in the third. they cut it to a one-point game. curry with three more. the warriors up two.

he got 22 from klay thompson. and harrison barnes filled in for iguodala. the warriors scored 42 in the fourth. and held toronto to 15. and they win it, 112-103. >> that's crazy. number ten duke, hosting michigan. they call it the big ten acc challenge. jabari parker, dick vitale loves him. and he should. duke was up ten at the half. quinn cook had a second half. all 24 in the second half. played 37 minutes. had nine assists, just two turnovers. and the coach brought in andre dawkins to do what andre dawkins does, hits three. duke by ten. >> hard to go in there and get a win. >> yes. that's all we got. unless you have something else. >> i do. but we don't have time. up next, "the pulse." it is dangerous out there. santa being accompanied by fighter jets.

why some people say the decision creates a holiday buzz-kill. and his moves grabbed the spotlight at a pro basketball game. last night, he stole the show on jimmy kimmel. ♪ wow...look at you. i've always tried to give it my best shot. these days i'm living with a higher risk of stroke due to afib, a type of irregular heartbeat, not caused by a heart valve problem. at first, i took warfarin, but i wondered, "could i up my game?" my doctor told me about eliquis. and three important reasons to take eliquis instead. one, in a clinical trial, eliquis was proven to reduce the risk of stroke better than warfarin. two, eliquis had less major bleeding than warfarin. and three... unlike warfarin, there's no routine blood testing. [ male announcer ] don't stop taking eliquis

unless your doctor tells you to, as stopping increases your risk of having a stroke. eliquis can cause serious and in rare cases fatal bleeding. don't take eliquis if you have an artificial heart valve or abnormal bleeding. while taking eliquis, you may bruise more easily and it may take longer than usual for any bleeding to stop. seek immediate medical care for sudden signs of bleeding, like unusual bruising. eliquis may increase your bleeding risk if you take certain medicines. tell your doctor about all planned medical or dental procedures. i've got three important reasons to up my game with eliquis. [ male announcer ] ask your doctor today if eliquis is right for you. as where we came from. with the wind chill, it's 10 below. flight attendants, prepare for landing. [ attendant ] we have record lows out there so bundle up, and thank you for flying with us. [ engine turns over ] ♪ [ male announcer ] now, with mybuick remote start, the new buick enclave makes sure you're ready for anything. ♪

just one more way the new enclave is smart made beautiful. ♪ time to check, "the pulse." we start with something of a good-natured rivalry renewed. 11-year-old detroit pistons fan, antwain alexander and an usher in an intense dance-off. all playing out on the arena's big screen. >> last night, they went

move-for-move again on jimmy kimmel's show. check it out. ♪ >> oh, no. >> yeah. they got some more kimmel security guard guillermo, getting in the act. >> obviously, he wasn't keeping up with the real stars of the show, who we're watching right now. these guys are good. >> like, maybe a sitcom or something. >> they were wearing exactly what they were wearing for the game. a major change for a holiday tra digits is taking flak from some parents. millions of parents and kids use the norad site to track santa's progress. but look at the video from the site. >> santa is being escorted by military jets. and that has a whole lot of child advocates and parents upset. this is typical of some of those

that we read online -- inexcusable to militarize santa in any way. this is like having the easter bunny accompanied by a police escort. how do you explain that to the little ones? >> i have to agree. take the fighter jets out. it's santa claus. >> and the little ones don't understand. it's cool-looking planes. >> let that go. i want a plane like that. >> exactly. >> from santa claus. now, a story that may help diana in the near future. the most popular baby names in the country. >> when it comes to boys, the name is jackson. it's taken over the top spot. followed by liam. and for the girls, the 2013 list from baby center has sophia as reining supreme, followed by emma and olivia. "duck dynasty" has an impact, with a rise in cory, mia, sadie and siler.

you have a name picked out? >> maybe. >> you going to share it with us? >> no. it's not the "i only earn decent rewards at the gas station" card. it's the no-games, no-signing up, everyday-rewarding, kung-fu-fighting, silver-lightning-in-a-bottle, bringing-home-the-bacon cash back card. this is the quicksilver card from capital one. unlimited 1.5% cash back on every purchase, everywhere, every single day. so ask yourself, what's in your wallet? so you think santa will like these... red and green m&m's? i don't know! i never met the guy! whaaaaa! he does exist! they do exist! uhm... santa?

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ame is eddie metcalf. ] that's handy. i enjoworking in my yard and you know, i can't. i can't do that any more,'cuz i'm missing most of my lung. they did a cat scan of my kidneys, no more kidney stones. that's the good news. "but, we found a spot on your lung." that frankly scared the "hell" out of me. i hadn't smoked in 22 years. how could this happen to me? he said, "well, you know about radon gas?" we'll... you know, i heard about it. he said, "well, the second leading cause of cancer" "in america is radon, 22,000 people a year die from this." i literally left the doctor's office, got a test kit, put it in my house, and our result was 39.8. the upper limit is 4. we got to get this fixed. that was on a monday, and on wednesday, our mitigation system was up and running. well, i think everybody should have their house tested. we'd never know. we'd still be living there. i could get another tumor from it. right now, it's changing my life.

abc7 news begins with breaking news. >> the breaking news is from show to see if anyone inside after an early morning place burned a structure to the ground. matt is on scene with the latest. matt? >> this was a big fire, with a lost water put on the flames this morning and amazingly, those films were not able to jump to hopes nearby. here pictures from the san jose fire department from when they arrived on the scene. a man in his 70's lives in the home. neighbors say they do not benefit low was home they have not soon him or car if a couple of days. investigators are going through the home to make sure no one is

in inside and looking at what starts the fire it is cold. but it is too early to tell if weather is a factor. pg&e was telling with the power issue. firefighters are having trouble finding contact information for the man who lives here and hope to speak with him to confirm no one was snowed when the fire happened. we expect firefighters to be here for a while this morning cleaning up the mess and investigating what started the fire. >> matt, thank you at 4:28. we have the lowest temperatures we have seen in a long time and here is mike nicco. 30 in santa rosa and frosty 32 in novato and throughout the east bay valleys we have frosty temperatures and 31 in concord and i hit 26 on the thermometer in my car on way in headed through the san ramon valley. 38 right new in san jose.

35 in fremont and hair. 41 in san carlos and mountain view and san francisco. we will call today chilled sunshine as temperatures are well below average 48 to 53 degrees is all we get today cool we than year. now the morning commute. sue? >> good morning, everyone, so far so good. we had an early hit and run in the pleasanton area, with c.h.p. on the line saying it is still out there but out of lanes so it should not be causing too much delay. otherwise, overnight road work still in the lanes, eastbound from bay point to bailey in 5:00, a up cough lanes -- couple of lanes and before the caldecott tunnel there is traffic the lanes which blocked until 5:00 this morning. traffic is flowing nicely on the san mateo bridge. walnut creek southbound 680 the